The present invention generally relates to equipment for facilitating radiator repair and, more particularly, is concerned with a radiator lifting and holding apparatus.
Radiators used in cooling systems of internal combustion engines typically include a large rectangular housing having internal fluid passages enclosed by fins which radiate heat from the passages to the external atmosphere. Thus, by nature of their construction and size, radiators are difficult to manually lift and handle for performing repairs thereon.
A variety of devices appear in the prior art for mechanically lifting and handling radiators. Representative of the prior art are the devices disclosed in U.S. Patents to Alford et al (U.S. Pat. No. 1,634,227), Long (U.S. Pat. No. 1,823,204), Williams (U.S. Pat. No. 2,576,660), Ferguson (U.S. Pat. No. 2,602,990), Austin (U.S. Pat. No. 2,679,092), Barbee (U.S. Pat. No. 3,027,158), Jordan (U.S. Pat. No. 3,301,547) and Chausse (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,216,947 and 4,324,393), and in an advertisement on page 16 of the 1987 Automotive Cooling Journal. While many of these prior art devices might operate reasonably well and generally achieve their objectives under the limited range of operating conditions for which they were designed, most have shortcomings which make them less than an optimum device for lifting and handling radiators for performing repairs. Most devices have large numbers of parts and complex constructions making them expensive to manufacture and difficult and awkward to operate. Some of the complexity and complication of many of the devices is due to the mounting of their components for clamping and rotating the radiator to their components for lifting the radiator.
Consequently, a need still exists for an improved device for mechanically lifting and handling a radiator which avoids the above-cited shortcomings of the prior art devices.